Senior Project Coordinator

1. Background

ABAAD – Resource Center for Gender Equality is seeking a qualified and experienced Senior Project Coordinator to support the implementation of a development initiative addressing the intersections of gender equality, protection, social norms, faith, and community engagement in Lebanon.

The initiative forms part of ABAAD's broader efforts to prevent gender-based violence (GBV), promote gender equality, challenge harmful social and gender norms, and strengthen the role of influential community actors in creating safer and more equitable environments for women, girls, families, and communities.

The intervention will engage with Lebanon's complex social, cultural, religious, and legal landscape and requires careful consideration of the ways in which gender, protection, family dynamics, social norms, religious structures, and personal status frameworks intersect.

2. Position Purpose

The Senior Project Coordinator will provide overall programmatic and technical coordination for the assigned project, ensuring high-quality, timely, and context-sensitive implementation. The position requires a strong understanding of the intersection between gender, GBV and protection, social norms, faith and religious institutions, and Lebanon's personal status system, alongside demonstrated experience in project management and stakeholder engagement.

Working closely with ABAAD's technical and operational teams, the Senior Project Coordinator will coordinate implementation, manage relationships with relevant stakeholders and partners, support technical and knowledge-development processes, monitor progress and risks, and ensure compliance with ABAAD's programmatic and protection standards.

Please note that this position will be effective as of January 1, 2027.

3. Key Responsibilities

3.1 Project Coordination and Management

• Lead the day-to-day coordination and implementation of the assigned project in line with approved objectives, workplans, timelines, budgets, and organizational procedures.
• Develop and regularly update implementation plans, stakeholder engagement plans, activity schedules, and risk mitigation measures.
• Coordinate closely with relevant ABAAD technical, programmatic, MEL, communications, finance, and operations teams.
• Ensure timely delivery of project activities and outputs and proactively address implementation challenges.
• Coordinate external consultants, service providers, and partners, as relevant.
• Contribute to narrative and financial monitoring, reporting, and other project documentation.

3.2 Technical Coordination

• Support the integration of gender equality, GBV prevention, protection, social norms transformation, and positive masculinities across project implementation.
• Ensure that activities are implemented in accordance with survivor-centered, do-no-harm, confidentiality, safeguarding, and PSEA principles.
• Apply a nuanced understanding of the intersections between gender, power, family dynamics, social norms, faith, and protection.
• Work closely with ABAAD's technical teams and external experts to ensure the technical quality and contextual relevance of project interventions and materials.
• Support the adaptation of technical concepts and approaches for different stakeholder groups while safeguarding the project's core gender equality and protection principles.

3.3 Stakeholder and Partnership Engagement

• Map, engage, and maintain constructive relationships with a diverse range of relevant stakeholders, including community actors, civil society organizations, institutions, subject-matter experts, and other influential actors.
• Coordinate consultations, meetings, workshops, dialogue processes, and other stakeholder engagement activities.
• Navigate diverse institutional, social, cultural, and religious perspectives with diplomacy and sensitivity.
• Identify opportunities for collaboration and knowledge exchange with relevant national and regional actors.
• Represent ABAAD in relevant project-related meetings and coordination spaces, as requested.

3.4 Contextual, Legal, and Policy Analysis

• Maintain strong knowledge of Lebanon's social, political, religious, and legal context as it relates to gender equality and protection.
• Follow developments related to Lebanese personal status laws and religious court systems, particularly their implications for women and girls, family relationships, and protection from violence.
• Demonstrate understanding of the relationship between personal status frameworks, civil and criminal legislation, and protection mechanisms in Lebanon.
• Support contextual and stakeholder analysis to inform project implementation and adaptation.
• Identify emerging legal, institutional, social, or political developments that may create risks or opportunities for the project.

3.5 Knowledge Management and Learning

• Coordinate research, documentation, learning, and knowledge-development processes associated with the project.
• Support the development and technical review of project resources and knowledge products.
• Document lessons learned, promising practices, implementation challenges, and emerging insights.
• Facilitate internal and external learning processes and contribute to the dissemination of relevant project learning.
• Ensure that knowledge products are technically sound, accessible, contextually appropriate, and aligned with ABAAD's principles and approaches.

3.6 Monitoring, Reporting, and Risk Management

• Work closely with the MEL team to monitor implementation progress, results, and emerging learning.
• Support the collection and analysis of qualitative and quantitative project information.
• Prepare high-quality narrative reports, activity documentation, presentations, and other required materials.
• Proactively identify programmatic, protection, safeguarding, reputational, contextual, and operational risks and support appropriate mitigation measures.
• Ensure appropriate documentation while respecting confidentiality and data-protection requirements.

4. Required Qualifications and Experience

• Advanced university degree in gender studies, law, human rights, social sciences, political science, development studies, religious studies, or another relevant field. A bachelor’s degree combined with substantial relevant professional experience may be considered.
• Minimum seven years of progressively responsible professional experience in gender equality, GBV, protection, human rights, social development, social norms change, community engagement, or related fields.
• Demonstrated experience coordinating or managing complex development, protection, gender, or social change programs.
• Excellent knowledge of the Lebanese personal status system, including familiarity with the different religious jurisdictions and their implications for gender equality, women’s rights, family relations, and protection.
• Strong knowledge of gender equality, GBV prevention and response, and protection principles, including survivor-centered and do-no-harm approaches.
• Strong understanding of the intersection between gender, social norms, family dynamics, religion/faith, and protection within the Lebanese context.
• Good knowledge of Lebanon's religious and confessional landscape and the role of religious and community institutions within Lebanese society.
• Demonstrated experience engaging with a diverse range of institutional and community stakeholders and navigating sensitive or complex stakeholder environments.
• Experience facilitating consultations, workshops, dialogue processes, or other participatory processes with diverse stakeholders.
• Demonstrated ability to approach culturally, socially, or religiously sensitive issues with nuance while maintaining clear gender equality and protection principles.
• Experience contributing to research, technical resources, knowledge products, curricula, guidance, or similar materials is an asset.
• Strong project management skills, including work planning, budgeting, monitoring, reporting, coordination, and risk management.
• Excellent analytical, facilitation, negotiation, interpersonal, and communication skills.
• Excellent written and spoken Arabic and English. French is an asset.

5. Preferred Assets

• Previous professional engagement with religious institutions, faith-based organizations, religious leaders, or interfaith initiatives is a strong asset.
• Familiarity with theological, religious, or faith-based perspectives on gender, family relations, social justice, human dignity, or violence prevention is an asset.
• Experience working on social and gender norms transformation and/or engagement of men and boys and positive masculinities is an asset.
• Experience working across different religious, cultural, or community constituencies in Lebanon is highly desirable.
• Existing familiarity with relevant civil society, legal, academic, religious, and community stakeholder networks in Lebanon is an asset.
• Regional experience in the MENA region is an advantage.

Data Protection and Retention:

Data Collection: ABAAD will process the information you provide in your application for the purpose of evaluating your suitability for the advertised position. This data may include personal information such as your name, contact details, education, work experience and samples, and other relevant information.

Data Retention: ABAAD will retain your data for a period of up to 7 years following project completion. This retention period may be extended in specific circumstances, such as legal obligations or ongoing disputes. ABAAD may further retain your name and date of application in the organisation’s internal supplier log.

Data Security: ABAAD is committed to protecting your personal data. We have implemented appropriate technical and organisational measures to ensure the security of your data.

Your Rights: You have the right to access, rectify, or erase your personal data, as well as the right to restrict or object to its processing. You may withdraw your application and request the deletion of your data by email. You also have the right to data portability.

Data Sharing: Your data may be shared with relevant third parties, such as background check providers or reference checkers, as necessary for the recruitment process.